Epistaxis

They were supposed to be making fun of one of the camp-mates: one who was particularly chatty and loved to talk to people. Or, as one of the other camp-mates had put it, they "just could not shut up!"

Both boys and the crew had agreed that it would make for a very funny link if the boys could parody someone who just would not stop talking, and then for the other one to get them to shut up somehow.

It had been Ant's idea for that method to be a punch to the face. He'd justified it by saying that it was guaranteed to shut even the chattiest person up, and Dec had cheekily piped up that it had worked well in the past - which had sent them all into a fit of laughter.

So, the script had been written, the boys had rehearsed the link, and practiced the fake punch. Everything had run like an oiled machine during rehearsal, and now the moment in the live show had come.

They had just seen the VT of last night's dinner, where the celebrities had confessed their great annoyance at the chatty character, and it had eventually blown up with an argument at dinner. The boys knew it would make for fantastic viewing.

"I don't believe it" Ant started, pretending to act surprised. "It's barely been a week, and already we've had a fight!"

"Was that really a fight, though?" Dec returned, frowning a little in disbelief. "Although, I guess you can't really blame them, can you? I mean, is there anything worse than someone who just doesn't stop talking? I mean ever? What's it like, aye? I mean; you're sitting there, trying to have a conversation with someone, and someone else just butts in, and then they don't shut up! How bloody annoying is that? Or when you've just got to a really exciting bit in a book, and someone next to you starts talking about it, and then they won't bloody stop! I really wish that someone would take all these people aside and just tell them to shut up once in a while. It'd make the world a much better place if it didn't have all these people who do not stop talking-" Dec continued on like this for at least a minute.

Following the script, Ant's face got gradually more annoyed as Dec continued to ramble and chatter. Eventually, he got to the part where he was supposed to interrupt.

"Dec?"

"Yes?" Dec replied, turning to him, eyebrows raised in scripted question.

At that moment, things split from the script a little. Okay, quite a bit, actually.

What was supposed to happen, was a stage punch; meant to shut Dec up for a moment so that Ant could introduce the video of yesterday's trial.

Things didn't quite happen that way, as it turned out.

The stage punch turned into more of a real punch than anyone would have liked. A loud smack could be heard, even over the sound effects scripted to cover the fake punch, as Ant's fist accidentally made full contact with Dec's nose and cheekbone.

Reeling in shock, the impact sent Dec spinning to the side, hand coming up to cover the right side of his face as the very real pain splintered across his skin. He could hear Ant continuing the script beside him, and - although in pain - he knew he had to join him.

So he straightened up and turned to face the camera, not needing to play up a fake pain for any effect. They managed to get through the remainder of the link without any further issues, but when the crew switched the cameras off and they came off-air, Ant was immediately apologising profusely.

"You alright? Oh my God, I'm so sorry mate, really, I honestly didn't mean it! I-" Dec almost had to slap Ant to get him to stop his own rambling.

"Mate, it's fine, honest. I'm okay, seriously" he replied, not blaming his friend in the slightest.